February 24, 2011 (Oslo, Norway) – Marit Bjoergen is nearly everywhere on the streets of Oslo, smiling from countless posters with her Norwegian version of a Cheshire Cat smile. If she was the Queen of Vancouver after the 2010 Olympics when she brought home a record number of gold medals, it’s hard to imagine what her status will now be in this Nordic-mad country.

To prepare for the Olympics Bjoergen visualized herself as a tiger, out to devour its prey. She admitted she still practices that technique and found someone had left a tiger – not the real thing, but a scare nonetheless – on her bed the night before this race.

And devour she did dominating the women’s 1.3km freestyle sprint from start to finish. In the qualifications she was 1.5 seconds ahead of Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla and continued her prowess through the quarters, semis and the grande finale for gold.

The international press conference was held up as the Norwegian media kidnapped her from the rest of us. Bjoergen did not sport the usual red Team Norway jacket, but a golden one – a surprise gift from Swix.

“This has been an amazing day. I enjoyed it out there today With gold you really can enjoy. I had fun with it – go out and don’t think – just do the work,” Bjoergen said at the post-race press conference. “The snow was not that fast. I went very fast in front and the other girls got tired.”

Italy’s Arianna Follis, who fought back after a brief fall in her semi to make the final as a lucky loser, took home the silver at 0.2s behind Bjoergen, while officials deliberated over a photo finish between Slovenian teammates Petra Majdic and Vesna Fabjan for third. In the end Majdic was awarded the bronze at 0.5 seconds behind as Fabjan recorded the same time.

Follis felt redeemed after not medaling at the Olympics. “I hoped to win a medal because I was the World Champion in 2009 and for the silver medal I am very, very happy.” But she said being up against Bjoergen is so very tough. “In every heat you have to fight with Bjoergen. When I tripped on a hill in the semi, I thought the race was finished for me.” But she was able to catch the leaders and finish 3rd making the final as a lucky loser.

Majdic could not stop smiling about her bronze medal win. She has proven, without a doubt that she was able to come back from the terrible crash she suffered at the 2010 Olympic Games one year ago.

She too liked the tougher, slower course. “I told myself that hopefully this track would be better [than the icy World Cup track the week before]. It’s a sprint so you never know if you’ll win – that’s impossible. I’m happy – this [bronze] is not a problem for me. I love to stand on the podium.”

While Bjoergen reigned supreme the match up with American star Kikkan Randall the race favourite, touted by the local press, never materialized.

Randall who qualified 9th (at 5.86 seconds behind Bjoergen) met with heartbreaking disaster as she caught a ski on a downhill section at the half-way mark of her quarter final heat and spun out dropping to her knees – her race was quickly over. In her heat was rising US star Jessie Diggins, at her first Nordic Worlds, coming in 5th with Randall 6th.

“I’m not exactly sure what happened,” Randall told SkiTrax. “One moment everything was going fine and the next moment I was sailing down the trail backwards. I think my ski got hooked by the Swede and it just spun me around. There was a lot of contact out on their course today.

“Definitely a bummer because I was feeling really strong today and ready to go. I knew the key today was going to be staying out of trouble and unfortunately I wasn’t able to do that.”

But Randall saw the silver lining too. “While I’m definitely disappointed with the fall and not making it into the semis, I came into today prepared and confident and determined to give it my best. And I gave it everything I had. Still a great day for our team qualifying five into the heats. Great to see the younger girls getting their first taste of the big time. And Andy [Newell] skied strong in the semis.”

A similar fate ended Canada’s Chandra Crawford hopes as well in her quarter final. The 2006 Olympic champ was leading with her trademark long powerful glide on her first trip through the stadium when she too got tripped up and spun out losing her momentum – she said later that Justina Kowalczyk (POL) had stepped on her pole. The USA’s Sadie Bjornsen in the same heat finished fifth with Crawford 6th.

Despite no North Americans in the final, having eight skiers qualify for the quarter-finals was a record, and they were in the mix in every heat.

Canada’s Daria Gaiazova was only 0.4 seconds back in her heat to take the 4th spot while teammate Perianne Jones was 2.1 seconds back in 6th spot in the same heat. Gaiazova just missed advancing as a lucky loser and her time of 3:06:4 would have taken first place in two of the four heats.

”I feel happy with my effort today,” she told us. “I raced with grit and some smart tactics. Perhaps I could have squeezed into the top-12 if I made a better lane choice at the finish stretch, but nonetheless my speed was very good.”

Bjornsen, a young and talented American skier at her first senior World Championships was all about the silver lining. “It’s my best ski experience so far,” said the 21-year-old. “Wow, there is nothing like 50,000 fans screaming for you…makes ski racing that much more enjoyable.”

Diggins echoed Bjornsen on the wow factor. “This is the first really big event I’ve ever been in. There was a wall of sound and flags,” she said in a USSA release. “It was overwhelming. I had to remind myself ‘Ok, focus. Stop watching the people dancing in the stands’. It really gets me fired up and is inspiring.”

“It was a bittersweet day for the US. We started with the sprint World Cup leader, Kikkan Randall, who had won her previous two skate sprints,” commented US head coach Chris Grover. “She’s in amazing shape, so if she had not gotten tangled up, would have had a good shot at victory – but that’s sprint racing, it’s a tough business. But it was also very exciting to see our younger developing skiers, including one junior, Jessie Diggins, qualify.”

World Cup leader Kowalczyk took 5th at 0.18 seconds back, while Slovakia’s Alena Prochazkova was a surprise in 6th place, displacing veterans such as Sweden’s Kalla and Bjoergen’s teammates Maiken Caspersen Falla, who also crashed during the competition (as did several others), and Astrid Uhrenholdt.

As Bjoergen stepped onto the podium the Hollmenkollen erupted. Even inside the media centre all could hear the Norwegians screaming her name in unison.

Bjoergen also said the longer length of the course favoured her along with her strategy of preferring to ski at the front. “I am always in front. Back in the group something can happen. It has been a great day, with people around the track saying my name. Amazing.”

It was a great way for Bjoergen and her hometown fans to begin the 11-day Nordic World championships…

Qualifications HERE.
Final results HERE.